This is probably not a traditional CC post and I have yet to really determine what my objective is. I will be a senior in AS this fall and I want to share a little bit of my background. I transferred for my junior year having completed freshman and sophomore year at a decent regional state university. I found myself at my first school due to an exceptionally poor high school performance. With a 2.8 HSGPA and around 630s on Math and Reading, my options were limited. After changing a few things around, I pulled myself together for a near perfect GPA and managed to transfer. This past year went fine as I managed the deans list (3.7) with standard club involvement. I do not feel particularly out of place here.
I do not think I want to necessarily send an exclusive message of hope to applicants. Admissions is always a tossup. While I was probably a little lucky, I also had solid involvement through high school and my first two college years along with great essays. Being a first generation student may have had a hand in this, though, I am only including that note as a disclaimer and not as screaming hook or something.
I do want to say that, from my experience, you really do not need 32+ ACTs and 750 SATs to succeed at a school like Penn. No one should feel inferior over lower test scores, even if they are rejected as an applicant. Penn has to reject thousands of great candidates.
It would be interesting to hear from other CC people who have had similar experiences with low test scores/still managed to pull off the admit and succeed academically.